Saturday, November 20, 2010

Avgolemono, the stellar Greek combo of egg and lemon makes for a brilliant bowl of pure sunshine which you can beat up quickly without missing a beat. Applying hot broth to raw egg is not nearly as intimidating as it sounds; the likelihood of wrecking the batch to curdling is slim if you temper the tangy mixture slowly up to a general warmth that the eggs can handle. If this method fails you, you can, at the slightest sign of egg separation, rub the mixture quickly through a cheese cloth-lined sieve. But you must act with lightning quick speed. This will save your soup and your neck if you are planning on serving it to guests. Quinoa, the high-protein South American grain-like seed, is obviously not a traditional ingredient, but adds an off-beat beauty and texture that pair well with the zesty, creamy broth. For a light and satisfying meal, serve with small crusty rolls smeared with soft goat cheese. Drizzle olive oil on the cheese and top with a few crushed Kalamata olives and curls of orange rind.

Vegetarian Avgolemono Soup with Quinoa - My own recipe, generally based on the classic trio of ingredients: broth, eggs, and lemon juice. It is garnished most often with dill.

In a large saucepan, heat vegetable broth. Do not boil nor simmer. Remove from heat. Test its temperature by taking up a spoonful then dipping your pinkie in the broth. If it is uncomfortably hot, it will also be too hot for the egg. Allow to cool slightly before testing again.

In a large bowl, beat eggs with lemon juice until they are very smooth and foamy. Using an 1/8 cup measure, transfer warm broth to egg-lemon mixture, beating very quickly with a whisk to disperse heat after each measure. Continue adding and beating one measure at a time until the mixture is very warm to the touch; you can tell by cradling a hand around the bowl. Pace yourself; the egg must be slowly introduced to incremental heat to prevent curdling. When broth in saucepan cools to comparable temperature of egg-lemon mixture, pour mixture into the saucepan, quickly following with a thorough whisking. Over the very lowest burner flame or setting, heat the soup, whisking constantly to prevent it from engaging with the bottom of the pan, closest to the heat source. Do not let soup even come close to a simmer. As soon as soup begins to steam, remove from heat and pour immediately into serving bowls to prevent stored saucepan heat from overcooking the egg. Adjust salt and pepper per bowl if necessary. Add a generous scoop of cooked quinoa to each bowl, then garnish generously with carrot and dill. Serve immediately with lemon wedges on the side.

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I cook and bake in that cute little galley kitchen up there. It's not as tidy as it used to be, and the walls are a deep tagine red now, but it's a cozy, homey space where you are always welcome to drop in. You can reach me at thewellseasonedcook AT yahoo DOT com. I'd be delighted to hear from you.